Saturday, 31 August 1985

20 August 1985: We set off early on a long day trip from San Jose
to Chomes, taking the first bus then a longish walk to the saltpans. Being back a sea level and with very little shelter
it soon became very hot. At the end of the
day we were pleased to be given a lift back to the main road where we didn’t
have to wait too long for a San Jose bus.
Birds seen included Snowy Egret, Little
Blue and Louisiana Herons, Yellow-crowned Night Heron, Wood Stork, Roseate Spoonbill,
Semipalmated and Wilson's Plovers, both Yellowlegs, Spotted Sandpiper, Willet, Least,
Semipalmated and Western Sandpipers, Hudsonian Whimbrel, Short-billed Dowitcher,
Black-necked Stilt, Gull-billed and Least Terns, Blue Ground Dove, Rose-throated
Becard, Rufous-naped Wren and Mangrove Warbler.

Rufous-naped Wren, an impressive member of a generally impressive family

mangroves at Chomes

Greater Yellowlegs at Chomes

21 August 1985: Being at the whim of bus timetables was taking
its toll so we chartered a taxi for a morning visit to Volcan Irazu. We were lucky that it was clear, although hazy,
when we arrived giving views of the Caribbean to the east and the Pacific to the
west. Few birds were seen but included Baird's Sandpiper and Volcano Junco. We returned to San Jose and visited the Zoo in
the afternoon seeing Rufous-tailed Hummingbird
and Hoffman’s Woodpecker before catching the overnight bus to Panama City.

looking back towards San Jose from Volcan Irazu

Volcan Poas from Volcan Irazu

insides of Volcan Irazu

Volcan Irazu crater

Colin on the rim of Volcan Irazu

Nick

me

Volcan Irazu group photo

Volcan Irazu ridge

Colin on the edge

looking down from Irazu

little vegetation at the summit

22 August 1985: We continued our bus journey to Panama City, crossing
the border at Paso Canoas. By now the bus
was quite uncomfortable.

23-28 August 1985: We caught a train from Panama
City to Gamboa from where it was a short walk to the start of the famed Pipeline
Road. Here what looked like a fortuitous
but unlit box toilet by the entrance barrier gave me a shock as when I sat down
I noticed something moving in the corner a foot away - a small dark snake that I
didn’t spend too long looking at. All thoughts
of using the toilet rapidly vanished, and since that day the forest has always been
much more appealing. We took food for a couple
of days and camped a couple of miles down the Pipeline Road at the ‘Limbo Hunt Club’,
me in my bivy bag under the fly sheet again.
Very disappointingly it was just a clearing, the building we’d imagined sleeping
on the veranda of having long since gone.
It was very hot and with little shade during the day but the forest along
the road, which was little more than a dirt track, was superb. On 26 August we returned by train to Panama City,
getting a bus to the airport where we saw off Nick who was flying back. Colin and I returned but in broad daylight on
our way back to the railway station Colin was set upon by four muggers. He took an arm out of his rucksack to lay into
one of them who was trying to get his money-belt while I was grabbing another around
the neck to keep him off. The other two grabbed
Colin’s rucksack, literally off his back, and they all ran off into a rather seedy
tenement building with it. Fortunately Colin’s
passport and cash were in his money-belt which he’d kept a firm hold on but his
binoculars, notebook and Nick’s tent, which we’d borrowed, were lost. We found the local police station and reported
the theft, which they blamed on Colombian immigrants. A couple of cops returned to the scene with us
but unsurprisingly there was no sign of the perpetrators or any of Colin’s stuff. We spent the rest of the day finding replacement
binoculars and buying a plastic sheet and rope for a makeshift tent. We found a cheap hotel for the night, our day
trip I to see Nick off had become rather more eventful than we’d anticipated. Next time he could find his own way to the airport! The next morning Colin and I returned to the Pipeline
Road for two days. Birds seen during our
stay included Least Grebe, Anhinga, King Vulture,
Double-toothed Kite, Black Hawk-Eagle, Crane Hawk, Slaty-backed Forest-Falcon, Grey-headed
Chachalaca, Scaled Pigeon, Grey-chested Dove, Red-lored and Mealy Parrots, Greater
Ani, Spectacled Owl, Semi-collared Nighthawk, Paraque, Lesser Swallow-tailed Swift,
Purple-crowned Fairy, Slaty-tailed, White-tailed and Black-throated Trogons, Green
& Rufous Kingfisher, Broad-billed, Rufous and Blue-crowned Motmots, White-necked,
Pied and White-whiskered Puffbirds, Collared Aracari, Keel-billed and Chestnut-mandibled
Toucans, Cinnamon and Crimson-crested Woodpeckers, Black-striped Woodcreeper, Plain
Xenops, Scaly-throated Leafscraper, Fasciated, Slaty and Russet Antshrikse, Spot-crowned
Antvireo, Streaked, Checker-throated and Dot-winged Antwrens, Dusky, Chestnut-backed
Bicoloured, Spotted and Ocellated Antbirds, Streak-chested Antpitta, Blue-crowned,
Red-capped and Golden-collared Manakins, Blue Cotinga, Rufous Mourner, Purple-throated
Fruitcrow, Fork-tailed, Panama, Ruddy-tailed and Sulphur-rumped Flycatchers, Golden-crowned
Spadebill, Olivaceous Flatbill, Brownish Flycatcher, Plain, Buff-breasted and Black-bellied
Wrens, White-breasted Wood Wren, Song Wren, Long-billed and Tawny-faced Gnatwrens,
Louisiana Waterthrush, Buff-rumped Warbler, Chestnut-headed Oropendola, Scarlet-rumped
Cacique, Fulvous-vented Euphonia, Golden-hooded, Plain-coloured, Crimson-backed
,Yellow-rumped, Carmiol's and Sulphur-rumped Tanagers, Red-throated Ant-Tanager,
Slate-coloured Grosbeak and Thick-billed Seed Finch. Highlights were encountering an antswarm on 24 August,
Colin finding a day roosting Spectacled Owl, seeing the antpitta twice and a Puma
walking down the track towards me before it realised I was here and promptly turned off. We also saw Sloth, Amradillo and Coatimundi.

Panama Canal

29-31 August
1985: We got the train from Gamboa to Gatun,
a very impressive and efficiently run set of locks on the Panama Canal. Birds here included Pied-billed Grebe, Snowy Egret, Little Blue and, Louisiana Herons , Collared
Plover, Solitary Sandpiper, Greater Yellowlegs, Ringed Kingfisher, Red-breasted
Blackbird and Saffron Finch. From there
it was a longish walk to the Achiote Road where we slept by the road under plastic
sheet for two nights. We’d taken food and
some water but found it difficult to replenish the latter as most of the pools were
very muddy although we did eventually find a small fairly clean stream and used
plenty of iodine with no ill effect. Birds
seen on the Achiote Road included Agami Heron,
King Vulture, Zone-tailed and Semi-plumbous Hawks, Striped Cuckoo, Rufous-breasted
Hermit, Band-tailed Barbthroat, Violet-bellied Hummingbird, Purple-crowned Fairy,
Slaty-tailed, White-tailed and Violaceous Trogons, Pied and White-whiskered Puffbirds,
Grey-cheeked Nunlet, Spot-crowned Barbet, Collared Aracari, Keel-billed and Chestnut-mandibled
Toucans, Cinnamon and Lineated Woodpeckers, Black-striped Woodcreeper, Fasciated
and Great Antshrikes, Pigmy and Streaked Antwrens, Chestnut-backed Antbird, Golden-collared
Manakin, White-winged Becard, Purple-throated Fruitcrow, Black-headed Tody Flycatcher,
Southern Bentbill, Black-chested Jay, Plain, Bay and Black-bellied Wrens, Black
& White Warbler, Chestnut-headed Oropendola, Yellow-tailed and Yellow-backed
Orioles, Plain-coloured, Crimson-backed, Yellow-rumped and Dusky-faced Tanagers,
Red-throated Ant-Tanager and Black-headed Saltator. On the way back to Gamboa we met an American
scientist who very generously offered to put us up in the research apartment he
was using there. Much better than another
night under our plastic sheet!

approaching Gatun Locks

Gatun Locks

very impressive, as was the whole operation

swallowtail-type butterfly

Colin in our new tent, leaf cutter ants were keen to join us too as we failed to notice we were on the route of one of their highways!

1 September 1985: Our friend was going to Barro Colorado, an island
in the centre of the canal where there was a research station. We had planned another day on the Pipeline Road
but it seemed too good an opportunity to miss.
He also offered us the use of his apartment that evening even though he was
staying on BCI. A very generous offer indeed. In conversation it turned out he’d been mugged
a couple of times in Panama City, part of the Panamanian experience was how he put
it. Westerners generally being a soft-target
unless an off duty US marine was picked on in which case the outcome was usually
different! BCI was interesting with an impressive
canopy tower, and we got a nice lunch, but we were not there at the best time of
the day and saw few different birds although they did include Grey-headed Kite, Slaty-tailed and Black-throated
Tanagers and two male Blue Cotingas.
We returned to the Gamboa apartment and made use of a communal tumble drier
in the basement of the block to dry out our wet shoes although the noise of them
being tumbled must have been audible to most of the residents. It didn’t work that well and we soon got them
wet again the next morning.

2 September 1985: We had a last look around Gamboa seeing 2 Sloths
and a Coatimundi before catching the train into Panama City. We’d said we’d return the key to an office in
town as our friend was heading back to USA but when we got there it was all locked
up. The best we could do was lob in over
the entrance gate with a cryptic note and hope it’d be found. We got the bus to Tocumen Airport and after checking
in – Colin with just hand baggage - found some pools outside the airport where we
saw Collared Plover, Solitary Sandpiper, Greater
Yellowlegs, Spotted Sandpiper, Willet, Least Sandpiper, White-rumped Sandpiper,
Pectoral Sandpiper, Western Sandpiper, Red-breasted Blackbird, Ruddy-breasted Seedeater. We flew home via Aruba (Magnificent Frigatebird) and Amsterdam but KLM managed to lose my rucksack
on the way and we both finished the trip with just hand baggage. On getting home I phoned Nick. I got some bad news I told him. He was fearing that I’d seen Rufous-crowned Antpitta
(no such luck) so was quite relieved when it was only that we’d lost his tent. Nick had even got back to the UK in time to see
the Little Whimbrel at Cley, meeting another very good friend of mine, Martyn Kenefick
who he didn’t then know in the hide there.
Birding is a small world. KLM even
found my bag and eventually sent it on to Brighton Station where I collected it
two weeks later, complete with wet and now rotting canvas shoes. I even managed to get a refund from them for
a new pair!

Sloth at Gamboa

Many
thanks to such excellent companions, Colin and Nick, for a very enjoyable trip. It worked out pretty much to plan, at least once
I got to Costa Rica! The trip cost me about
£800 all in and I saw over 480 species of which almost half were new.[blogged March 2013]

Monday, 19 August 1985

6 August 1985: We rather reluctantly left Monteverde getting
a bus from Santa Elana to Santa Rosa. We
broke the journey at La Victoria where we had a two hour stop by getting off one
Santa Rosa bus and onto the next. It was
a site for Boat-billed Herons which we
saw along with Rufous-naped and Banded Wrens. Back on the bus we got dropped off by the turning
for Santa Rosa and it was a longish walk in from main road. We took in our food and camped by the HQ as there
was no food or accommodation available. We
just had Nick’s two-man tent between us but I had a bivy bag and slept in that squeezed
partly under the tent's flysheet.

adult Boat-billed Heron at La Victoria

superb birds

well worth a two hour stop

Nick and Colin on the Santa Rosa approach road

7-8 August 1985: Santa Rosa was much drier forest than the other
sites we visited in Costa Rica. One day we
walked to the coast visiting a beach where Green Turtles come ashore to breed but
unfortunately not at that time of year. Colin reminds me that I nearly got wiped out by the surf as an unexpectedly big wave came in while I was attempting to swim, a memory I'd happily expunged! Another
day a couple of American researchers showed us a large rattlesnake as it disappeared
down a hole. It was at least as thick as
my arm and not seeing its head a sit slid away made it even more evil looking. The researchers were wearing heavy boots, denim
jeans and knee high snake-bite proof shin-pads.
As we were walking around in trainers and shorts we hoped their attire
had more to do with paranoia than necessity. It also added to my concerns about sleeping in a bivy bag but I survived. At Santa Rosa we saw King Vulture,
Grey-headed and Double-toothed Kites, Collared Forest Falcon, Great Currasow, Crested
Guan, Spot-bellied Bobwhite, Wilson's Plover, Double-striped Thick-knee, Orange-fronted
Parakeet, White-fronted, Red-lored and Yellow-naped Parrots, Lesser Ground Cuckoo,
Paraque, Plain-capped Starthroat, Citreoline and Elegant Trogons, Turquoise-browed
Motmot (brilliant), Pale-billed Woodpecker, Ivory-billed Woodcreeper, Barred Antshrike,
Long-tailed Manakin, Nutting's and Northern Royal Flycatchers, Slate-headed Tody-Flycatcher,
Cliff Swallow, White-throated Magpie-Jay, Rufous-naped and Banded Wrens, White-lored
Gnatcatcher, Long-billed Gnatwren, Grey-crowned Yellowthroat, Chestnut-capped Warbler,
Streak-backed Oriole, Scrub Euphonia, Blue Grosbeak and Olive and Stripe-headed
Sparrows.

open grassland at Santa Rosa

Stripe-headed Sparrow

Inca Dove

White-throated Magpie-Jay, not at crepuscular despite the impression that this image gives

coastal forest at Santa Rosa

The Pacific from Santa Rosa

large Iguana at Santa Rosa

turtle beach and the Pacific

coastal mangroves at Santa Rosa

Wilson's Plover

playing hide and seek in the mangroves

Brown Booby

Brown Pelicans

waiting on the main road for a San Jose bus, weather didn't turn out nice, again

9 August 1985: We packed up the tent, walked out to main road
and flagged down a bus to San Jose. We checked
back into the ‘Peace Corps’ hostel to find many of the same occupants there
watching the same TV programmes.

10 August 1985: We caught a bus from San Jose to Puerto Viejo
where we found a room for three in a basic hotel. We walked down the road 3-4 kms to the entrance
of Finca La Selva and back before dark to make sure we could find it and see how
long it would take as we wanted to arrive at dawn.

11-13 August 1985: Each day we left Puerto Veijo before dawn and
walked to Finca La Selva in the dark, arriving as it was getting light. We’d booked our visits in San Jose and paid the
daily admissions charge on arrival. The cost
of visit included lunch which was apparently very good although I always ended
up missing it in preference to staying out on the excellent forest trails and
superb grid system. At most forest sites
where we spent any length of time we tended to split up and wander quietly around
on our own – in the hope of seeing some forest skulker that 2 or 3 of us
together might disturb. Nowhere was that
more so than at La Selva where we all saw loads of good birds and each had
memorable encounters with an ant swarm and attendant ant-things. Good birds were not restricted to the forest
with the diminutive Snowcap hummingbird, another of our main targets being
fairly common at this time of year on the flowers around the headquarters. At La Selva we saw Great Tinamou, Slaty-breasted Tinamou, Green Ibis, Bat Falcon, Great Currasow,
Rufous-fronted Wood Quail, Grey-chested Dove, Olive-backed Quail-Dove, Olive-throated
Parakeet, White-crowned, Red-lored and Mealy Parrots, Bronzy Hermit, Black-crested
Coquette, Green Thorntail, Snowcap (brilliant), Bronze-tailed Plumeleteer, Purple-crowned
Fairy, Black-throated and Violaceous Trogons, Broad-billed and Rufous Motmots, White-fronted
Nunbird, Collared Aracari, Keel-billed and Chestnut-mandibled Toucans, Chestnut-collared,
Rufous-winged and Pale-billed Woodpeckers, Barred, Black-striped and Spotted Woodcreepers,
Slaty Spinetail, Slaty Antshrike, Streak-crowned Antvireo, Dot-winged Antwren, Dusky,
Chestnut-backed, Bicoloured, Spotted and Ocellated Antbirds, Black-faced Antthrush,
White-collared Manakin, Rufous Piha, Purple-throated Fruitcrow, Sulphur-rumped Flycatcher,
Eye-ringed Flatbill, Northern Bentbill, Black-capped Pigmy Tyrant, Band-backed,
Stripe-breasted and Bay Wrens, White-breasted Wood Wren, Louisiana Waterthrush,
Buff-rumped Warbler, Montezuma's Oropendola, Scarlet-rumped and Yellow-billed Caciques,
Black-cowled Oriole, Yellow-crowned and Olive-backed Euphonia, Golden-hooded and
Dusky-faced Tanagers, Red-throated Ant Tanager, Black-headed Saltator, Black-faced
Grosbeak, Thick-billed Seed Finch and Orange-billed Sparrow. At La Selva we also saw Tayra and Armadillo.

entering La Selva, buy suspension bridge over the river

one of the excellent forest trails crossing a stream

Keel-billed Toucan at La Selva

14-15 August 1985: We stopped off at Finca El Bejuco on our return
from Puerto Veijo. We stayed on reserve where
we were put up and fed by a very friendly lady who was looking after the place for
an American University. We saw some nice
birds and another Tayra but it was not a patch on La Selva and our time would have
been spent more productively staying longer there. We did see Little Tinamou, Double-toothed Kite, Bat Falcon, Grey-headed Chachalaca,
Blue Ground Dove, Grey-chested Dove, Olive-throated Parakeet, White-crowned and
Mealy Parrots, Striped Cuckoo, Broad-billed Motmot, Keel-billed and Chestnut-mandibled
Toucans , Great Antshrike, Black-faced Antthrush, Red-capped and hite-collared Manakins,
White-winged and Cinnamon Becards, Bright-rumped Attila, Yellow Tyrannulet, White-breasted
Wood Wren, Montezuma's Oropendola, Yellow-billed Cacique, Black-cowled Oriole, Olive-backed
Euphonia, Golden-hooded Tanager, Red-throated Ant Tanager, Black-headed Saltator,
Black-faced Grosbeak, Thick-billed Seed Finch and Orange-billed Sparrow. After two days at El Bejuco we caught a bus back to San
Jose and the ‘Peace Corps’ hostel.

Nick at El Bejuco

16-19 August 1985: The next morning we caught a bus south down the
Pan American highway getting off at the restaurant at La Georgina where we stayed
for three nights. We spent most time on the
road back up to Cerro de la Muerte and along interesting looking side trails
but low clouds rolled in each afternoon making birding very difficult and often
curtailing it. La Georgina was cold,
especially at night, but going back to the room to read was often the only alternative
to staying out in the cloud and rain.
Unsurprisingly we were the only people staying at La Georgina although
there was a steady passing trade of truckers and busses. We lived on rice, meat and beans (arroz con carne
con frijoles) - fortunately in my pre-veggie days – although they sometimes
took a while to arrive. Fortunately we
were patient and didn’t make the mistake of another group of friends who
visited a couple of years later and when no food appeared ordered again, and
again and finally ended up with three plates each! Birds seen included Red-tailed Hawk, Green Violetear, Fiery-throated, Magnificant and Volcano
Hummingbirds, Grey-tailed Mountaingem, Resplendent Quetzal, Emerald Toucanet, Acorn
and Hairy Woodpeckers, Spot-crowned Woodcreeper, Ruddy Treerunner, Buffy Tuftedcheek,
Streak-breasted Treehunter, Silvery-fronted Tapaculo, Black-capped Flycatcher, Silver-throated
Jay, Timberline Wren, Black-billed Nightingale-Thrush,
Long-tailed Silky Flycatcher, Black & Yellow Phainoptila, Yellow-winged Vireo,
Slaty Flowerpiercer, Flame-throated and Black-cheeked Warblers, Collared Whitestart,
Wrenthrush (several, excellent to see some more), Yellow-billed Cacique, Sooty-capped
Bush Tanager, Yellow-thighed and Large-footed Finches and Volcano Junco. After a final morning at La Georgina we caught a bus back to
San Jose and checked back into the ‘Peace Corps’ hostel.

La Georgina, our base at Cerro De la Muerte for three nights

Restaurant La Georgina, we stayed in an upstairs room at the back, not that there was a lot of noisy traffic on the road